


Happy Holidays

by Mliss



Category: All Time Low
Genre: Christmas Party, Fireworks, Friends to Lovers, Jalex - Freeform, M/M, Mistletoe, New Year's Eve, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-26
Updated: 2017-04-17
Packaged: 2018-09-12 11:53:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9070486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mliss/pseuds/Mliss
Summary: On one side of the room Jack is standing on a ladder, grinning like an idiot while he’s hanging mistletoe on the ceiling.“Really, Jack?” I ask him, raising an eyebrow, but he just shrugs back at me.“Why not?” he answers, “You never know, something nice may happen”. I snort at him and shake my head. Something nice may happen, yeah right. Well, not for me this year. Merry Christmas, kiss my ass!





	1. Merry Christmas, kiss my ass!

**Author's Note:**

> This is something I started somewhere in November last year, I think, and I hadn't been able to finish it before Christmas then and well, neither did I this year, but I really wanted to post it this year since it was almost done just before Christmas and I didn't want to wait another year. Although in the Netherlands we actually have two Christmas Days, so technically it's still Christmas (only for another two minutes, but hey) and everyone who loves Christmas is probably still in a festive mood anyways. I hope it's not too bad as for me it started out pretty good but got gradually worse.
> 
> Anyways, I hope everybody had a great Christmas!

I’m standing in the middle of the living room, looking around at all of my preparations for the party tonight. It’s completely decorated and Christmas-y, but I’m not content, like, at all. Everywhere I look, I see Jessica’s smile and everything reminds me of our time together. She kissed me underneath the mistletoe last Christmas and since then we’d been dating. I gave her everything, but she just took my heart and stomped on it, handing it back to me battered and broken when she broke up with me on fucking Thanksgiving. She’d been cheating on me for months already and apparently she thought that was the perfect moment to tell me. It’s been a month now, but it still hurts and I miss her like hell, even though I hate her guts.. I look around the room in the hopes of finding something to distract myself with, but the only thing my mind can focus on is the brightly lit Christmas tree in the corner of the room. Frustrated, I scream to myself and walk up to it, roughly tearing one of the streamers down. A few other ornaments fall down as well, crashing onto the floor and leaving pieces of thin glass to lie at my feet. Looking at the mess I’ve made, I suddenly feel all my anger disappear and replace itself with sadness.

What am I doing..? Christmas used to be my favorite time of the year and now I hate it just because Jessica broke up with me.. I drop to my knees, tears slowly dripping down my cheeks and I start picking up the pieces of glass.

Suddenly I hear my front door slam shut, followed by a voice yelling, “Alex, we’re here!”. Oh.. Right. Jack, Zack and Rian were coming over to help me. I completely forgot, and now I’m sitting here, bawling over a few broken Christmas ornaments. Way to go, Alex. Way to go.. It’s already too late for me to do anything, as they’ve walked in and are looking at me. I can see the pity on their faces and it only makes things worse. I sigh and look at the glass in my hands, then back up to them. 

“C’mere,” Jack says as he walks up to me and reaches his hand out to take over the pieces of glass. I drop the bits in his hand and wipe the tears off my face with my sleeve as he walks off to throw the glass away.

“I’m sorry guys..” I say and they shake their heads.

“Don’t be, Alex, it’s okay,” Zack says and he smiles at me. I smile back at him weakly and get up from the floor. He puts a hand on my shoulder and squeezes softly. “Now, let’s get you some distraction,” he says as he pushes me forward, leading me to the kitchen, “We’re making snacks”. Behind me I hear the first words of ‘All I want for Christmas’ blast through the speakers and Jack singing along loudly. I chuckle softly at his shamelessness and silently thank my friends for being so understanding. We spend the rest of the afternoon making all different kinds of Christmas snacks and as I walk into the living room after having cleaned up the kitchen I notice the streamer in the tree has been fixed and even more decorations have been put up. On one side of the room Jack is standing on a ladder, grinning like an idiot while he’s hanging mistletoe on the ceiling.  
“Really, Jack?” I ask him, raising an eyebrow, but he just shrugs back at me.

“Why not?” he answers, “You never know, something nice may happen”. I snort at him and shake my head. Something nice may happen, yeah right. Well, not for me this year. Merry Christmas, kiss my ass!

“Yeah well, maybe next year,” I say bitterly and I turn around to leave. “Anyway, I’m gonna change into something that doesn’t say ‘I’ve been sitting inside crying and eating ice cream all day’,” I call over my shoulder before walking into the hallway and upstairs to my bedroom. When I arrive upstairs, I sit down on my bed for a few minutes. I stare at the wall, trying to mentally brace myself for this evening. I’m woken from my thoughts when the doorbell rings and I hear Jack open the door and welcome the first guests. I sigh and decide to finally stand up to change my clothes. I pull a tank top and one of my Christmas sweaters from the closet and put them on quickly before walking into the bathroom to check my hair one last time. I comb through it a bit with my fingers so it looks okay and give myself a reassuring look in the mirror. I can do this.. I just have to act happy for a few hours and then I can huddle up in bed again. I walk down the stairs to greet everyone in the living room. It doesn’t take too long for the house to fill up and before I know it I’m busy with making sure there are enough drinks and snacks for everyone.  
It’s somewhere halfway down the evening when I hear my name being called and as I look over I see Jack beckoning me. I manoeuver over to him and when I’m standing in front of him he gives me one of his lopsided grins. I roll my eyes at him. 

“What?” I snap and he gestures upwards with his eyes. When I look up, I see the mistletoe he put up earlier and all I can think about is the first time I kissed Jessica. Normally I’m up for a joke, but right now with those images of her flashing through my mind, I don’t think I can handle it. I shake my head, panicking slightly. “No, Jack, I..” I start, but his hands are suddenly cupping my face and he’s coming closer and- oh my god, this feels so good! His hands slowly move down to my waist, pulling me closer, and I never want to leave this place again. Everything around me has become a big blur and in my mind there’s only Jack and me and his rough but still soft lips on mine. It all suddenly crashes around me when he breaks the kiss and looks at me. I quickly whisper a desperate ‘no’ and pull him into a kiss again, not wanting to stop this. He chuckles softly, making my lips tickle, and for some reason this all feels so natural. I wrap my arms around his neck, tangling my fingers in his hair as he deepens the kiss. It seems to last forever until I feel his hands on my shoulders, softly pushing me away. As we break apart for the second time my hands slide down to the crook of his neck. His eyes meet mine for a moment before he looks away again.

“I..” he starts, but he’s cut off by the sound of something crashing onto the floor in the kitchen. I look at the source of the noise before looking back at him with an apologetic look. “Go ahead,” he says with a nod and I squeeze his shoulder lightly before walking into the kitchen to check out what happened. As I walk through the entrance I instantly see the ravage: two broken wine bottles on the kitchen floor and Zack and Rian cleaning the whole mess and looking incredibly distressed. 

“Way to go guys,” I chuckle at them and grab a dish towel to help them clean up the wine. 

“Sorry Alex, I tried to catch them, but I was too late,” Zack says apologetically.

“It’s okay guys, shit happens,” I say with a smile while continuing to clean up. When we’re done, I just throw the used towels in the trash as the red stains are never coming out anymore. When I walk back into the living room, Jack is gone from his spot underneath the mistletoe and I only see him again when all of the guests have gone home at the end of the night and the only ones left beside me are Jack, Zack and Rian. We clean up together and when everything is done, I tell them to go home since they’ve already done more than enough this night.

“I’ll stay to help you with the dishes,” Jack says to me. Zack and Rian look at him and he smiles back. “You guys go, it’s okay,” he says, “There isn’t much left to do anyway”.

“Okay,” they both answer and they say their goodbyes before going home, leaving the two of us alone. I look at Jack, expecting him to start talking about what happened earlier tonight, but he just walks into the kitchen. I follow him into the kitchen and help him with the dishes. From the corner of my eye I can see him looking at me every now and then and it makes me a little nervous. When I finish drying off the last glass, I turn around to look at him.

“Jack,” I say sternly and he looks at me nervously, but I need to know why he kissed me. I know we joke around a lot, so it may as well be that, but still I’m wondering..

“I..” he starts, “I’ve had a thing for you for quite some time already”. He looks at me a bit sheepishly while I continue to stare at him and wonder how the hell I’ve never noticed anything. He’s been my best friend since forever, surely there must have been some moment between us that screamed ‘Jack has the hots for you’..? When I come up blank, I open my mouth only to close it again as I can’t really find the words to say. “I’m sorry, I never should have kissed you..” he says and he takes a step back, “I should go”.

“No, wait, Jack, it’s-” I say quickly and he stands still. “I enjoyed it too,” I say and I can see his eyes light up a little. 

“You did..?” he asks and I nod back at him. He visibly relaxes at my reaction and lets out a breath. “Alright, that’s.. Good, I guess,” he says and I chuckle a little at his nervousness. “But really, I do have to go, it’s pretty late,” he says and he walks away while I linger in the kitchen for a moment. Here I thought we’d be having a long, deep conversation, but I guess he doesn’t want that. Deep in thoughts I walk through the living room and into the hallway where Jack is putting his coat on. I open the door for Jack and lean against it as he walks past me. He turns around at the doorstep and looks at me.

“So.. What are we now..?” he asks me, obviously hinting at more than just sharing a kiss. I sigh and lift my head off the door.

“Jack, to be honest.. I really don’t know,” I say, “I mean, that kiss felt amazing, but I’m definitely not over Jessica yet..”. He nods understandingly. “I’m just not ready for this yet, so.. Let’s just keep it at one kiss for now, okay..?” I tell him and he looks hurt, but nods at me with a small smile. It pains me a little to see him like that, but I had to tell him the truth..

“Yeah..” he says and he gives me a quick hug and then turns away to walk out the door. Before he goes, he turns around to look at me again. “Hey, you’re going to Rian’s New Year’s party too, right?” he asks and I nod at him in response. “‘Kay, nice, see you there then,” he says with a smile and he walks out the door, waving at me before he leaves the front yard. I wave back at him before closing the door and I let out a deep sigh, all these mixed feelings inside. What have you done, Jack..?


	2. Happy New Year, indeed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's just say that I'm terrible with self-imposed deadlines.. Anyway, for anyone who has been waiting for this, here you go! Hope you enjoy it!

It’s already dark outside when I leave the house for Rian’s New Year’s party. It’s cold, so I snuggle into my scarf a little more. I’ve decided to walk the way to Rian’s place as I don’t trust myself driving right now. The last week has been one hell of an emotional rollercoaster, all because of just one kiss. I just can’t keep my thoughts together anymore and I’ve often found myself completely zoned out, thinking about Jack and that night at the Christmas party. I have to admit, there has always been this certain spark between us, which I guess is why he’s my best friend, but I never could have thought that one kiss could light this big a fire inside me. I never even pictured us together in any way other than friends; I never really looked at him that way. I mean, we joked around like that a lot, but to me, that was just what it was: joking around. And now I can’t even keep my mind off him..

When I arrive at Rian’s place I notice that it’s pretty busy already. Even though I have a key, I decide that it’s probably better to just ring the doorbell since there are already guests inside. I push the button and wait for someone to open the door. It takes a while and I rub my hands together to warm them up a little. When the door finally opens, I am met with Rian, who immediately smiles at me.  
“Hey, come in,” he says and I walk after him into the hallway, glad to be out of the cold outside. I take off my coat and scarf and put them on a hanger on the coat rack. Rian has already gone back to what he was doing before when I walk into the living room. I immediately scan the room, looking for Jack, but notice that he isn’t here. I walk into the kitchen in the hopes of finding him there, but with no luck.

“Hey, Alex,” I hear Zack say and I turn around to look at him. 

“Hey man,” I answer and he reaches into the fridge and hands me a beer. “Thanks,” I say as I open the can with a small sizzle. I take a sip and savor the taste for a moment; first sip’s always the best. Zack walks back into the living room, so I follow him and we talk for quite a while about various things. When Jack is mentioned in the conversation, I realize that I still haven’t seen him at the party.

“Hey, speaking of Jack, do you know where he is?” I ask him and he looks at me pensively. 

“No,” he says slowly, “Now that you mention it, I haven’t seen him all night”

“Hm, so he isn’t here yet..” I say and Zack shakes his head in confirmation. “I’ll text him,” I say and I grab my phone from my pocket. In the meantime, Zack is called over by some other people and he apologizes before going over to talk to them, which is my cue to turn my attention to my phone. I open my messages with Jack and start typing.

_‘Jack, where are you?’_

I press 'Send' and watch my screen for a moment, checking the time he was last seen online. The line says 8:47 PM, which was ten minutes ago. I chew my lip as a nagging feeling builds up inside of me. I close the app and lock my phone again and right when I want to put it back in my pocket, it buzzes in my hand. 

_Really..?_

I unlock my phone again and open the new message from Jack. 

_'Flight was canceled, driving home now'_

I frown at my phone and start typing again.

_‘Are you gonna make it before midnight?’_

The app tells me Jack is typing, so I wait for his answer. Some loud guest bumps into me roughly and I shove him away before making my way over to an empty corner of the room. I lean against the wall and look at my phone again to find that Jack has sent something back. 

_‘If traffic’s ok i’ll be there around 11’_

Well, that isn’t too bad I guess.. I start typing again when another thought crosses my mind.

_'You’re not texting while driving, are you?’_

As I press send I figure that it may be a bit weird for me to ask this question, but it’s already sent..

_‘No, getting gas rn’_

A few seconds later I receive a picture of him posing with the gas hose inserted in his car and making a peace-sign and an incredibly exaggerated duckface. I chuckle softly at his expression and start typing another message. 

_‘Good, cause i need you in one piece’_

Only when Jack’s answer pops up on my screen do I notice how fucking cheesy that sounded.

_‘For what? ;)’_

I try to suppress a blush as I think about what he probably means by that. Thanks for being so suggestive, Jack..

_‘Probably not what you are thinking.. Wouldn’t wanna take it that fast ;)’_

I decide to end it a little suggestively as well, hoping that he won’t mistake the first comment for me not wanting him, because, well.. I do. Just not sexually, yet.

_‘Haha jk’_

I stay silent for a while, not really knowing what to answer and judging by his answer, Jack seems to sense that.

_‘No worries, i’ll be there <3’_

I look at the little heart at the end of his sentence and feel my face heat up again. He really knows how to mess with my head.. For a moment I think about typing something back, but then I see that he’s already gone offline and I realize he’s probably driving again, so instead I put my phone away and look around the room for someone to talk to. As I scan the crowd, I see that everybody’s already talking and having fun with each other. Randomly intervening would be really awkward, so I grab my phone again with a sigh and open Facebook. I scroll my newsfeed for at least half an hour, not even paying attention anymore in the end as my mind has already drifted off. 

I end up spending the rest of the night staring at my phone and occasionally talking to people passing by me, until Rian walks up to the TV and turns it on. He switches to the news channel and the clock on the screen tells me that it’s already 11:58 PM, and only one thing goes through my mind: Jack still isn’t here. I look around the room, hoping to suddenly see him standing somewhere, but he’s nowhere to be found. I stand there in the corner of the room, nervously fidgeting with my hands and I can almost feel the seconds ticking by. As I watch the timer counting down on the TV screen, everyone around me has started yelling along with the numbers. With every passing second I feel my heart sink lower and lower, feeling betrayed by my own best friend, and I shouldn’t even be feeling this way. I was the one who turned him down because I didn’t know what I wanted.. _God, why am I such a wreck..?_ I stare at the screen, chewing on my lip and right when the counter hits zero, I feel a hand on my shoulder. 

“Sorry I’m late,” a familiar voice whispers in my ear and while everyone in the room chants ‘Happy New Year’ to each other, I am turned around and captured in a kiss by Jack. I wrap my arms around his neck immediately and let my fingers roam through his hair. His hands move to my hips and pull me closer to him. I feel the same amazing feeling I had when he kissed me at Christmas Eve engulf me and this time it seems to last forever again before Jack lets go of me.

“Happy New Year,” he says softly and for a moment we just stand there, looking at each other. 

“Happy New Year,” I answer, chuckling a little. He looks away for a moment before he clears his throat.

“So.. Are you ready now..?” he asks me, a bit carefully. I look at him and think about what I’m going to say. Am I ready..? My mind flashes back to the moment Jessica broke up with me and my heart still hurts at the thought, but then my memory brings me back to Jack’s lips against mine and I feel a warmth flow through my body that is stronger than the heartache I’ve been feeling this past month.

“I’m still not sure if I am, but I do know that I want more of this,” I answer when I’ve decided to just follow my heart. “And really, is anything going to change between us now, other than that..?”

“Well.. I don’t see how this would change our relationship as it is now, other than gaining this,” he says and he gestures at us. “So..” he starts as a small smile forms on his lips. “Would you be my boyfriend..?” he asks and I nod at him.

“Yes,” I say, “Yes, I-,” I fall silent for a moment, a bit astounded by the situation, but then I find the words again. “I’d like that..” I finish softly and he smiles widely before pulling me into another kiss. Suddenly a loud popping noise and people whooping rip us out of our little moment. I whip my head around to look at the source of the sound, only to find Zack and Rian standing there with a just-fired party popper. I stare at them while I slowly come to realize where we are again. I was so into this that I completely forgot about the world around us and never even thought that we could be having spectators.

“What the hell..?” Jack mumbles, looking at the silver-colored confetti raining down on us. 

“How long have you been standing there..?” I ask as it’s the first thing that crosses my mind. Rian grins back at me.

“Not that long,” he says. “We actually were outside already, but we forgot this,” he holds up the used party popper, “So we went back to grab it and walked in on you two making out like horny teenagers”

“Figured we might as well use it on this occasion instead,” Zack says with a shrug as I hear Jack scoff beside me.

“We were _not_ making out like horny teenagers,” he mumbles defensively as he crosses his arms and I snort at his comment before returning my attention to Zack and Rian.

“But why?” I ask them, still confused about the whole situation.

“We’ve had to watch you two dance around each other for almost two years now,” Rian says and he looks at me, “Well, maybe you not so much, but Jack definitely, so we were relieved to see that you _finally_ made a fucking move”.

“Was it that obvious..?” Jack asks and he looks a bit embarrassed.

“Well, to us, yeah, but we’ve known you like forever, so..” Zack says and he shrugs, “But I highly doubt anyone else knew about it”.

“Now, let’s go outside, the fireworks have already started,” Rian says before he walks into the hallway. 

“Oh, right!” I say as I remember that the city has organized a fireworks show at the city hall. I walk after him into the hallway and glance at Jack over my shoulder, who smiles at me in return. We both put our coats on and walk outside, into the cold. It’s even colder than at the beginning of the evening so I pull my scarf up around my face to keep me warm. As we walk down the street to where the rest of the people are watching the fireworks already, I feel Jack grab my hand. I look at him and he gives me a half-smile, like he’s unsure of this. I intertwine my fingers with his to reassure him a little and walk into the crowd with him. When we’ve found a good spot to stand, he pulls me closer to him. I look up at him to give him a soft kiss and then lean my head against his shoulder as we watch the fireworks together, smiling to myself.

_Happy New Year, indeed.._


End file.
